Bridling the Tongue

What is Bridling? – This is an act of controlling or directing using an equipment.A bridle is usually used on horses to direct and control their movement and behavior. Though the bridle is attached to the mouth (a small part) of the horse, it controls the whole body (a big part) of the horse (James 3:3).

If horses need bridles, how much more do we humans need to bridle our mouth especially the tongue? The tongue though very small can control & direct a person’s whole life. So, horses have this equipment called a “bridle” to keep them in check. What about us? What’s our bridling equipment?

The Heart

Our heart is the bridling equipment on our tongue.The Bible says, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” – Matthew 12:34b. If our heart is filled with vile and evil things, oh, the tongue is on a loose and it’s going to spit out evil things that can hurt us and others and vice-versa. James 3:6 – controlling the tongue means controlling the whole body.

Why do we need to bridle our tongues?The reasons our tongue needs to be bridled is actually quite numerous. Though, we all say things like, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never break me.” That is actually a BIG lie. The truth is, words are extremely powerful. Just as words can make us, they can also break us if not used wisely. Many times, we have said words that have gotten us in trouble at work, school, home and even to our significant other and has led to an irreconcilable “situationships”. Same way words have been said to or about us and that has left a long-term stigma in us that has sometimes led to self-destruction, hate, depression and what not. For, the soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit – Proverbs 15:4

More reasons why we must control our tongue includes• To avoid regrets • To offer a meaningful service to God ————- James 1:26• To keep yourself from trouble ——————— Proverbs 21:23• To avoid Sin ——————————————— Proverbs 10:19 & Psalm 39: 1• Because a wise man keeps his Tongue———– Proverbs 17:28

How do we bridle our tongues?

James 3: 7 – 8 says, For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

If we were horses, all we have to do is put a bridle on our mouth and easy peasy, all is well. But, we are humans and we can hardly control ourselves. By our own power & self-control, we can’t bridle our tongue.We act on impulse and on our carnal nature. Thus, merely trying on your own would simply lead to regrets. When we spill things out we later ponder and wonder why we didn’t wait before talking. And yes this includes finishing someone’s statement. You know that embarrassing feeling when you cut someone short and you end up not saying anything reasonable? Yeahhh that.

Thus, as aforementioned, the tongue is not the real problem but the heart. Which is why we must always ask God to create in us a clean and pure heart (Psalm 51:10). Ask God to continually perform a heart surgery on you. Our hearts need constant renewing and transformation.

We could try to think, analyze and filter before we talk but that isn’t always the best option. Regardless of thinking and analyzing, if the heart isn’t right, the words coming out could possibly be the beginning of decade-long destruction.One other effective way of doing this is praying. I personally have experienced this first hand. There is a certain peace that is experienced when I whisper that little prayer beneath my breath in the heat of the moment and all of a sudden everything seems brighter and better. Now when this peace is upon you, your words are spoken would be DIFFERENT hence your tongue reverencing your heart.

Now I am not an expert when it comes to a bridled tongue but trust and believe me when I tell you this works. It about the heart. It is not easy but its attainable by God’s grace and constant renewing of our hearts.